FootballScoop is proud to announce that Jeff Scott is the 2019 FootballScoop Wide Receivers Coach of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
Year in and year out, the Clemson wide receivers room was one of the very best -- not just among wide receiving corps, but of any position group in the sport. And 2019 was no exception.
The Tigers, returning to the national title game next week for the fourth time in the past five seasons, were led by one of the most dangerous trios in college football.
Junior Tee Higgins leads the group, hauling in 56 catches for a team-high 1,115 yards and 13 touchdowns. He leads the ACC in touchdown grabs and ranks third in receiving yards. Higgins' 19.91 yards per reception averaged places him fourth nationally among all players with at least 56 grabs. He posted four 100-yard efforts this season, including an ACC Championship performance that saw him catch nine balls for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
But Higgins was far from the only threat Clemson has on the outside.
Sophomore Justyn Ross paces the team with 61 catches for 789 yards and eight touchdowns. Coming off a 2018 College Football Playoff championship run in which he snared 12 balls for 301 yards and three touchdowns, Ross has evolved his game to become Trevor Lawrence's top option.
Rounding out the trio of future NFL draft picks, junior Amari Rodgers has caught 28 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns.
Though those three drew the bulk of opponents' attention, they were far from the only capable pass catchers in orange and purple. Senior Diondre Overton owns 22 catches, freshman Joseph Ngata has 17, junior Cornell Powell has 15, and junior Will Swinney has 12. In all, 13 different wide receivers have caught a pass for Clemson this season.
As a team, Clemson ranks 19th nationally in passing (292.2 yards per game), 11th in passing efficiency (161.78), 12th in yards per attempt (8.7), and seventh in completions of 20-plus yards (65).
Higgins was named a First Team All-ACC performer, while Ross and Rodgers earned honorable mention.
A Clemson graduate, Scott coached for his alma mater for the past 12 seasons, arriving as a graduate assistant in 2008 and rising to become co-offensive coordinator for the past five seasons. He was named South Florida's head coach on Dec. 9.
"It's been a real joy to watch Jeff grow and develop and work side-by-side with him. He's done an amazing job representing Clemson, representing the program, coaching our wide receivers and coordinating our offense," Dabo Swinney said upon Scott's departure. "His leadership has been a big part of our success, and we will always appreciate his contribution to our program."
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Andre Allen [Hawai'i], Joe Brady/Mickey Joseph [LSU], Keary Colbert [USC], Holmon Wiggins [Alabama] and Scott) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
With Clemson competing for the national title during the AFCA convention, Scott will receive his award at a to be determined date in the future.
Previous winners of the Wide Receivers Coach of the Year award are Bobby Kennedy (Texas, 2008), Zach Azzanni (Central Michigan, 2009), Brent Pease (Boise State, 2010), Ted Gilmore (USC, 2011), Matt Lubick (Duke, 2012), Lawrence Dawsey (Florida State, 2013), Rusty Burns/Doug Meacham (TCU, 2014), Tate Wallis (Baylor, 2015), Todd Fitch/Joe Sloan (Louisiana Tech, 2016), Kasey Dunn (Oklahoma State, 2017) and Tyron Carrier (West Virginia, 2018).
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